Tehran Times - Production of steel ingot in Iran during spring, which corresponds to the first quarter of Iranian calendar year, stood at 5.2 million tons, rising 3.7 percent from the same quarter in the past year, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

As previously announced by the Iranian Steel Producers Association, Iran exported 4.899 million tons of steel ingot during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2019).

As reported, billets and blooms accounted for 67 percent of the steel ingot exports in the past year.

Over 40% of crude steel produced in Iran is exported to different markets worldwide, according to Khodadad Gharibpour, the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

A report by the World Steel Organization (WSO) has indicated that Iran became the world�s tenth largest steel producer in 2018.

Iran which stood at the 13th place in 2017 could lag behind three major steel producers in the world, namely Italy, Taiwan, and Ukraine to stand at the 10th place in 2018, despite the re-imposition of sanctions by the U.S.

According to the WSO�s report, Iran produced 25 million tons of crude steel in 2018 which indicates 17.7 percent growth from 21.2 million tons in 2017.

Also, a recent report by the WSO says that production of crude steel in Iran rose 7.1 percent during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of time in 2018.

It is while crude steel production in the world increased 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The WSO�s report put Iran�s crude steel output at 6.223 million tons and that of the world�s 64 steel producers at 155.9 million tons in the three-month period.

China, India, Japan, the U.S., and South Korea were the top five steel producers in the world during the first quarter of this year.

The country�s crude steel production capacity will increase by 25 million tons within the next four years, according to a deputy director in IMIDRO.

Ardeshir Sa�d Mohammadi said that through such increase in crude steel output, the required feedstock for the plants will be properly supplied.

The official further lamented that of the 35 million tons of crude steel produced in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2019), 25 million tons were used in the production process.

Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries where 68 types of minerals have been identified so far, including the world�s largest deposits of copper, zinc and iron ore, which are tempting international investors.